Kevin Costner and his estranged wife, Christine, are officially living separate lives now that she’s out of the family home — but their divorce remains as contentious as ever as they fight over her understanding of their premarital agreement.
Christine is “relieved” to be out of family home
It’s been a little over two weeks since Christine was forced to move out of the Carpinteria, Calif., compound she has estimated to be worth over $100 million, to a smaller home owned by the Yellowstone actor.
A family source told People magazine over the weekend that the former accessories designer is “happy” to be out of the beach house, even if it’s only a temporarily solution while she secures a permanent home in the tony Santa Barbara area.
“Christine hopes there will be less drama now,” the insider told the outlet. “Kevin got what he wanted — she is out of the family house. Christine is relieved about it. She is happy to move on.”
While a report stated Christine found a new, $35,000 rental home to move into, with the $129,000 in monthly child support awarded by the judge, but that second move has not been confirmed.
“Swiftie” Kevin went to Taylor Swift concert with teen daughter
They’ve both been trying to find their new normal since Christine filed for divorce on May 1, despite Kevin saying making clear he didn’t want his second marriage to end. Last month, they took their three children — Cayden, 16, Hayes, 14, and Grace, 13 — on separate vacations. This month, Kevin bonded with daughter Grace at Taylor Swift’s concert on Aug. 7. From a private suite at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., father and daughter listened to the singing superstar belt out her hits including her breakup anthem, “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together.”
A few days later, he declared he was “officially a Swiftie” in his first social media post in over a month. Kevin — who fronts his own band — said he was “absolutely blown away” watching Swift perform. He also said he had an “amazing” time with his youngest of seven children.
Over the weekend, Kevin, who has been working on his Horizon: An American Saga since quitting Yellowstone, was photographed out and about driving a new Land Rover Defender.
Their contentious divorce battle continues — over the word “understood”
New court papers obtained by Yahoo Entertainment show show the divorce battle of the exes, who previously fought over pots and pans, is as contentious than ever.
The exes have a Nov. 27 start date for a trial that will determine the validity of their 2004 premarital agreement and they are currently in the discovery process. However, Kevin’s divorce lawyer, Laura Wasser, accuses Christine of acting “in bad faith” when it comes to letting her contentions with the prenup be known.
Kevin’s team claims Christine has “steadfastly refused” to say whether she’s going to challenge the prenup, giving “evasive” responses or “avoid[ing] answering many” of the standard questions. Wasser also takes issue with Christine’s legal team claiming “she does not understand words like ‘understood’ or ‘negotiation,’ so she cannot answer” certain questions about the prenup.
Wasser points to Christine being asked to admit or deny the statement that she “understood the premarital agreement before signing it.” Her counsel objected, saying the question was “vague as to the scope and meaning of the term ‘understood.’ Petitioner is therefore unable to admit or deny this request.”
There were similar objections to many of the questions.
“Christine asserts she cannot admit or deny that she understood the Premarital Agreement (“PMA”) because she (and apparently all of her attorneys) do not understand the word ‘understood,'” Wasser writes. “This is gamesmanship of the worst sort. ‘Understood’ is not a technical or arcane word… The notion that Christine and the multiple seasoned lawyers representing her do not understand the word ‘understood’ and cannot reply to this simple, straightforward RFA [requests for admission] is frivolous.”
Wasser says her team even provided Christine’s counsel with “a definition of ‘understood’…” She alleged that the objection was only made “for the purpose of delay,” and called the many objections “frivolous.”
Wasser shows documentation of attempts to get Christine to answer the questions, apparently not getting anywhere. So she is seeking monetary sanctions against Christine, who she says “has only thrown roadblock after roadblock up in an unjustified effort to avoid answering this discovery.” They also want Christine to cover Kevin’s legal fees for dragging this out.
This is a big bucks divorce, with Kevin’s estimated worth around $400 million. However, they have a prenup, which Kevin wants enforced. There will be a Sept. 6 court hearing on this new dispute over discovery, according to the docs. Before that, there will be a evidentiary hearing on Aug. 31.
